resentation of this hero triumphing over the lion and wild
bull.[74:4]

The Ancient Babylonians had a hero lion-slayer, Izdubar by name. The
destruction of the lion, and other monsters, by Izdubar, is often
depicted on the cylinders and engraved gems belonging to the early
Babylonian monarchy.[74:5]

Izdubar is represented as a great or mighty man, who, in the early days
after the flood, destroyed wild animals, and conquered a number of petty
kings.[74:6]

Izdubar resembles the Grecian hero, Hercules, in other respects than as
a destroyer of wild animals, &c. We are told that he "wandered to the
regions where gigantic composite monsters held and controlled the rising
and setting sun, from these learned the road to _the region of the
blessed_, and passing across _a great waste of land_, he arrived at a
region where _splendid trees were laden with jewels_."[74:7]

He also resembles Hercules, Samson, and other solar-gods, in the
particular of _long flowing locks of hair_. In the Babylonian and
Assyrian sculptures he is always represented with a marked physiognomy,
and always indicated as a man with _masses of curls over his head_ and a
large curly beard.[74:8]

Here, evidently, is the Babylonian legend of Hercules. He too was a
_wanderer_, going from the furthest East to the furthest West. He
crossed "a great waste of land" (the desert of Lybia), visited "the
region of the blessed," where there were "splendid trees laden with
jewels" (golden apples).

The ancient Egyptians had their Hercules. According to Herodotus, he was
known several thousand years before the Grecian hero of that name. This
the Egyptians affirmed, and that he was _born_ in their country.[75:1]

The story of Hercules was known in the Island of Thasos, by the
Phenician colony settled there, five centuries before he was known in
Greece.[75:2] Fig. No. 4 is from an ancient representation of Hercules
in conflict with the lion, taken from Gorio.

[Illustration: Fig. No. 4]

Another mighty hero was the Grecian Bellerophon. The minstrels sang of
the beauty and the great deeds of Bellerophon throughout all the land of
Argos. His arm was strong in battle; his feet were swift in the chase.
None that were poor and weak and wretched feared the might of
Bellerophon. To them the sight of his beautiful form brought only joy
and gladness; but the proud and boastful, the slanderer and the robber,
dreaded the glance of his keen eye. For a long time he fought th